Phillies

Chris Stigall Talks To Ryne Sandberg Re: Papelbon’s Unavailability

Relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon #58 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts after defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks in the MLB game at Chase Field on April 27, 2014 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Phillies defeating the Diamondbacks 2-0. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Phillies Manager Ryne Sandberg

Sandberg stated Papelbon came to him in the morning to tell him he didn’t think he could pitch in the game that later featured a three run rally in the ninth and an extra inning win for the Mets.

“He reported to the ballpark and he came to the trainers and he came to myself and said he didn’t think he could go [yesterday]. He had soreness in his neck, he had soreness in his body, and so that’s how that went about. At that point we had to plan a bullpen scenario and it actually worked out pretty well…Antonio just did not have his slider yesterday. He made some pitches over the middle of the plate…Things did not work out in the ninth for us,” he said.

He commented that during his playing career, he would force himself to suffer through minor injuries.

“I was an everyday player, and I grinded through sprained ankles and flu symptoms and that was the mentality that I had…I found that if I had something bugging me, a stiffness or an ailment of some kind, when I played through it, I was still able to have some quality and I often found that I healed quicker. That was my mentality,” Sandberg said.

Overall, Sandberg says he is happy with the performance of the bullpen this year.

“Early on in the season, we had some seventh inning troubles, but guys started to throw the ball better. The guys have stepped it up a little bit. Mike Adams, in the two games in New York, came in and pitched very well with men on base and preserved a win. [Jake] Diekman has been an arm. He’s had one or two down games but he’s been pretty solid. One of our young lefties out of the bullpen, Mario Hollands, has done a nice job of just being a situational guy…He’s been on a nice little streak,” he said.